It is well-known that the abdominal and gluteus muscles are difficult to isolate and strengthen. Many hours and years of exercise are generally necessary to produce a significant effect on the abdominal musculature. An extremely effective prior art device for strengthening of the abdominal musculature without placing unnecessary stress upon the lower back is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,304, issued to the inventor of the present invention. The device described in the '304 patent is known as the "Abflex" and has enjoyed wide spread commercial success. The Abflex provides for an isometric contraction process of the abdominal musculature which necessarily precludes excessive lumbar movement. The subject pulls with both hands on a pair of handles and simultaneously contracts the abdominal musculature, thereby moving the abdomen against a tensioned member.
Although the Abflex is highly effective, there is a need for a kinetic exercise to supplement the isometric exercise provided by the Abflex. Many exercise devices exist which allow a user to exercise his or her abdomen through rotation of the user's upper body, the exercise is known as a "crunch" type exercise. Prior art "crunch" type devices, however, have a number of shortcomings. For example, the user of the device has too much freedom to move and may tend to "cheat" by moving his or her body so as to decrease the torque around the abdomen.
Further, these prior art devices do not exercise the abdomen in an isometric manner and therefore the benefits of the exercise provided by the Abflex are not obtained. Many exercisers wish to achieve a toned abdomen without devoting an undue amount of time to exercise but prior art devices do not allow such exercisers to combine different types of abdominal movements and/or contractions in one exercise, forcing the exercisers to either choose one or another type of exercise or spend more time exercising than is desired. There is therefore a need to provide an exercise device that effectively and simultaneously allows for different types of abdominal movements and/or contractions which provides both an isometric and kinetic exercise.